1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a magnetic recording and/or reproducing apparatus that can accept tape cassettes of two different sizes with a built-in tape cassette adapter, which allows a small-size magnetic tape cassette to be used in an apparatus special for large-size tape cassettes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The conventional magnetic recording and/or reproducing apparatus has a construction with a tape slot on the front panel, through which a first magnetic tape cassette is inserted. To use a second tape cassette which contains shorter magnetic tape and is smaller in size than the first tape cassette, such a tape cassette adapter that the applicant has already proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,479,618 is used to house therein the second tape cassette. After drawing out the magnetic tape contained in the second tape cassette with a tape draw-out means built in the tape cassette adapter to attain the nearly equivalent tape travel path to that of the first cassette tape, the tape cassette is placed in the tape cassette slot provided on the front panel, and recording and/or reproduction of signals are performed in the same manner as the first tape cassette does.
In the magnetic recording and/or reproducing apparatus of the conventional construction, the tape cassette adapter is stored outside of the magnetic recording and/or reproducing apparatus. Therefore, to use the second tape cassette, the tape cassette adapter, to which the second tape cassette is installed, must be first found in the storage place, and the tape cassette adapter can be used only after the magnetic tape contained in the second tape cassette is drawn out to attain the nearly equivalent tape travel path to that of the first tape cassette.
To replace the second tape cassette, the tape cassette adapter must be removed from the apparatus, and the second tape cassette is removed from the tape cassette adapter, then a new second tape cassette is installed to the tape cassette adapter, and finally the tape cassette adapter is again inserted to the tape cassette slot. Consequently, to use the second tape cassette, there was a problem of extremely poor operability.
To partly improve such defect, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,622,605, an apparatus has been proposed that allows the tape cassette adapter to be retained in the apparatus when the second tape cassette is used, and the second tape cassette to be replaced from the cassette slot specially provided for the second tape cassette at the upper part of the apparatus. However, in this apparatus, to use the first tape cassette, the tape cassette adapter must be removed from the apparatus and stored outside, requiring an operation to reinstall the adapter again to the apparatus to use the second tape cassette. Thus, this apparatus also had the same problem of poor operability to use the first and second tape cassettes alternately.